Rebounding will be the theme for the ISU women’s basketball team this week as the Cyclones gear up for a pivotal two-game home stand against two more ranked conference foes.

Iowa State will try to rebound from an emotional week, which started with a thrilling upset against then-No. 2 Texas Tech, but ended with a disappointing 22-point loss against No. 3 Texas.

The Cyclones won’t get any breaks in their schedule with No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 15 Colorado coming to town.

Oklahoma enters the game 13-2 (3-1, Big 12) after thumping Oklahoma State 87-37. The Sooners’ only two losses on the season were to No. 5 Tennessee and to Texas.

Junior forward Mary Fox said returning to Hilton Coliseum will be big for the 8-6 (1-2, Big 12) Cyclones, who enter the game 6-1 at home.

“Coming back to play at Hilton is going to be a huge factor for us, especially the way we played against Texas Tech,” Fox said.

Fox said the Cyclones will use the next two practices before the Oklahoma game to re-establish the momentum that aided in their victory against Texas Tech.

“These next two games are going to be very important, Oklahoma being the first,” Fox said. “Losing two games in a row, especially the second one at home, is not an option for this team.

“I think we just need to rebuild in these practices before the game and figure out our game plan. Everyone needs to trust in the coaches and each other to come out with a win.”

ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said the Cyclones have been in this position before and responded well.

“We need to bounce back like we did after [the Nebraska loss],” Fennelly said. “We bounced back and played a great game against Tech.”

Rebounding and establishing an offensive flow will be key for Iowa State as it faces the Sooners.

“We got outrebounded by 29 [against Texas], which is a huge factor in Division I, especially Big 12, basketball,” Fox said.

“I think we need to work on our rebounding and offense organization, but mainly our rebounding.”

Fennelly said the Cyclones will work hard on those two aspects of the game in practice.

“The obvious thing for us is that we need to be able to rebound the ball,” Fennelly said. “We’ve been terrible at offensive rebounding the last two games and that’s really hurt us. I think we have to continue to work on being more cohesive on offense and making the shots we get. We’ve had some great looks at baskets.”

In last year’s meeting in Norman, Oklahoma won the game 61-48 and held Iowa State to 30-percent shooting as the Cyclones only managed to make 1-of-23 from the 3-point line.

One of Oklahoma’s strongest assets lies in its great depth, Fennelly said.

“I think with Oklahoma, every year it’s the same; every single kid they play finds a way to contribute,” Fennelly said. “They play a lot of players and they play hard and with as much emotion as any team in our league. Caton Hill is a great player; Maria Villarroel has had a great year. That [Dionnah] Jackson kid really killed us last year, so I think they’re very balanced and they switch defenses a lot.”

Last season, Jackson lit up the Cyclones for 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting behind the 3-point arc. Villarroel added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Fennelly said it’s important to understand that every game is hard and Oklahoma does that on a consistent basis.

“The biggest thing is [that Oklahoma] plays [the game] the way I think it should be played,” Fennelly said.

“They play really hard all the time and they’re a very emotional team.”